Peaceful Sleep
by RobinxRaven writer
Summary: In the digital Twilight Town, Roxas doesn't dream of Sora's life, he dreams of his life, and the girl he once knew, but can't remember the name of.
1. The First Day

_Roxas stepped through the dark corridor into the back alleys of Twilight Town. Taking a moment to look at his surroundings, he recognized where he was: At the the top of the steps leading down to the sandlot. He took the steps down, his silent companion close behind him. As they entered the sandlot, shadows materialized behind them, blocking their path backwards._

 _Their targets appeared: Around a dozen of the Deserter Heartless. Readying his keyblade, Roxas charged forward, his ally providing support with fire magic, covering his back. The fight was short lived, and Roxas decided to look around a few of the other areas before returning to the sandlot._

 _Heading up the stairs into the back alley again, he found that one of the Deserter Heartless had lived up to its name. Roxas pulled out his keyblade and struck it in the back, causing it disappear. Dismissing his Keyblade, he turned around to his companion and said, "I've got someplace to be again today, so go on without me."_

 _He started to walk past her, intending to go to Market Street for an ice cream before going to the Clock Tower. The girl who'd been with him hadn't said a single word since she'd joined the Organization, so he wasn't expecting a response._

" _R...Roxas…"_

" _Hm?" He turned around to look at his companion._

 _She turned around. "Your name… It's… Roxas, isn't it?." She asked, her voice even and monotone._

 _The shock of her speaking wore off quickly, and he nodded. "Yeah, ****. That's right." He was about to smile, but she turned around without another word and vanished into the dark corridor. After the portal vanished, he got an ice cream and went up to the clock tower. Yesterday, he'd waited for Axel, but today there was something else on his mind._

" _My name… was that the first thing **** ever said?"_

Roxas awoke, letting out a groan as he forced his tired body to sit up. He blinked a couple of times, then raised a hand to his head and ran his fingers through his hair. He sighed, putting his hand on his knee. "Another dream about her…"

Bells could be heard ringing throughout Twilight Town, and Roxas opened his window, letting in some fresh air as he gazed out over the town. After a few minutes, he got up and started getting ready to go meet his friends in the Usual Spot.

~The First Day~

Heading through Tram Common and up Market Street, Roxas found the alleyway to his destination. He could hear that Hayner, Pence, and Olette were already there and talking about something (Hayner was particularly upset), but before he walked through the metal gate he stopped and looked down the alleyway. Just a little further down was where his last dream had ended.

He frowned, looking down at the ground. There was no one there now, obviously, but he couldn't shake the… the sadness he felt thinking about the dream. Walking into the Usual Spot and taking a seat beside Olette on the old sofa they'd found a while back and waving to Pence (Hayner was still going off about whatever was making him upset), he quickly tuned out, the contents of his dream coming back to him.

The girl… he couldn't remember her name. He knew he'd said it in the dream, but trying to remember it now was exceedingly tough. Dreams were never easy to remember, and normally he'd dismiss it outright, but he felt like he _knew_ the girl, despite the fact that she'd said next to nothing in the dream. And if he knew her, shouldn't he know her name? He'd said it in his dream, he was sure of it, but trying to recall it was a fruitless endeavour.

Strange; he'd been able to recall a battle with a bunch of creatures whilst wielding a strange keyblade-sword, but he couldn't recall a simple name.

"Man, doesn't that tick you off?" Hayner asked.

"Yeah, that's just wrong!" Pence said.

"Seifer's gone too far this time!" Olette followed up.

The three looked over at Roxas, who was still lost in his own thoughts. _"I know she said my name… and I did say her name back… ah, but what was it?!"_ When he noticed the sudden silence, Roxas looked up at the others, nodding at their expectant gazes. He didn't want to give away the fact that he hadn't been listening.

Hayner sighed and stood up. "I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town. And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything. So if he wants to think we did it, I can't really blame him. See… that's not what really bugs me. What REALLY bugs me is that he's going around telling everybody _we're_ the thieves!"

"Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Klepto Club!" Hayner continued, then turned to Roxas who looked up, slightly startled. "Have you ever been this ticked off in your life? Because I haven't! Nuh-uh! Never!" Hayner exhaled after his rant, punching his hand to his palm. "Now… what to do?"

It went quiet for a moment. Olette wasn't sure of how they could prove they weren't the thieves, Pence wasn't sure how'd they approach Seifer, and Hayner just wanted to find Seifer and throttle him for lying to the town.

Olette looked at Roxas. When he noticed her gaze, he quickly said, "Uh, well… We could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight."

Pence stood up. "Hey, that sounds fun!" He walked over to get the camera, intending on making sure their victory would be forever recorded.

"What about Seifer?" Hayner asked him as he walked past.

"First, we gotta clear our names." Roxas said. "Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs."

Hayner grunted. _"Everyone wouldn't be on our backs in the first place if Seifer hadn't put the blame on us…"_ He thought to himself, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh no!" Everyone turned to look at Pence, who was holding the camera. "They're gone! Our *****are gone!" He blinked in confusion, putting a hand to his throat.

"All our ******, gone?!" Hayner asked, only to put his hands to his throat, similar to Pence.

"You can't say ******? Why not?" Olette asked.

" _Who's stealing words!?"_ Roxas asked himself. _"First that girl's name, then the word *****, too."_ He rolled his eyes when he realized he couldn't think the word, either.

"But you do understand what I'm saying, right? Our ****** are gone!" Pence asked Hayner and Olette.

Roxas stood up. "Stolen… and not just the ******. The word *****. They stole it, too!"

"What kinda thief is that?" Hayner asked incredulously. "Seifer could never have pulled that off."

"Yeah!"

"Alright, time for some recon!" Hayner said. He, Pence, and Olette, started for the alleyway and Roxas moved to follow them.

But as he turned around, the world started spinning, and he lost his balance. He fell to the floor, his vision fading to black.

~The First Day~

" _Roxas, that's a stick." She looked like she was stuck between wanting to laugh and wanting to smack him for being stupid._

~The First Day~

Roxas woke up a minute later, unsure what had happened. Had he just turned too hard and gotten dizzy? Maybe, but for some reason that didn't seem at all likely. He stood and brushed himself off, standing still for a moment to make sure he wouldn't fall again.

Olette walked up to him, apparently being the only one to notice that he wasn't with the group. "Roxas, c'mon!" She scolded playfully, turning on her heel and leaving to find Pence and Hayner after getting a nod from Roxas.

~The First Day~

After talking to various shop owners around Market Street and Tram Common, Olette hesitantly suggested that they ask Seifer what he knew. They headed to the sandlot, which was his usual hangout spot (and totally not the spot where their two gangs fought the most).

"Thieves!" Fuu said when saw them.

"That was low, y'know?" Rai said.

"Oh yeah?" Hayner mocked, getting a glare from Rai and Fuu.

"Nice comeback there, blondie."

They all turned to see Seifer walking up to them, coming from the Market Street entrance.

"What'd you say?" Hayner asked, and Roxas and Pence could hear him growling in anger already.

"You can give us back the ***** now."

"Yeah, you're the only ones who would take it, y'know?" Rai butted in, but Seifer ignored him.

"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers. So what did you do? Burn it? Hah, not that we need some ***** to prove that you're losers!"

"Replay!" Fuu exclaimed.

Seifer laughed. "Now you're talking!" They all took a fighting stance - but Roxas only weakly raised his fist, rolling his eyes as he did so. Seifer must've noticed, because he said, "Maybe if you get on your knees and beg, MAYBE I'll let it slide."

The only reason Roxas lowered his hand and walked forward was because his mind was once again on the dream he'd had last night.

These dreams had been happening for a few weeks now. He couldn't remember all of them, nor all the details; a castle, a room with some sofas, a round room, a man who ate ice cream with him… but the one thing he _was_ sure of was that the girl was in all of his dreams. Never saying anything, never doing anything, but always there.

And a result of her constant, silent presence in his dreams made him curious about her. Last nights dream was the first time he'd heard the girl talk - and the strange thing was, was that he wanted to talk back. It felt… like an instinct, almost.

"Roxas!"

Hayner's shout snapped him out of his thoughts. He blinked, and realized that a few struggle baton's had been dumped on the ground in front of him. It must not have been enough for Seifer to humiliate him peacefully, he had to fight him so he could show off his strength, too.

Grabbing one of the batons, Roxas readied himself for a fight.

~The First Day~

Seifer fell to one knee, the baton falling from his hand. He'd been defeated.

"S-Seifer's not feeling so hot, you know?"

"Tournament decides!"

His lackey's came to defend him, and Roxas rolled his eyes. He turned around to see Pence holding up the camera. Roxas frowned and narrowed his gaze, momentarily confused as to why Pence was taking his *******. Just as it dawned on him that he should probably smirk or give a thumbs down, he heard the _click_! and Pence gave him a thumbs up.

Only to have something grey, skinny, and very fast circle Pence, snatch the camera out of his hands, and then head up to the Tram Common.

"Woah!" Pence blinked, looking at the empty space where his camera was.

They all turned to see the person… well, not run away, more like float away.

"Uh, what was that?" Hayner asked out loud.

"The thief?" Olette offered as a response.

It clicked with everybody at the same time, and they all started after the person.

~The First Day~

Roxas ran through the Tram Common, though the hole in the wall and through the woods, never losing track of the guy who'd stolen Pence's camera. The thief eventually took the path to the old abandoned mansion, coming to a stop just in front of the gates. Roxas held up his baton and was about to order the thief to give back the camera, but something strange happened.

" _We have come for you, my liege."_

The voice… it definitely came from the thief, there were no other people around. But the voice didn't sound like it had been spoken out loud, it sounded like it had been _projected_ into Roxas's head. Kind of like hearing a voice on a windy day.

"What?" Roxas muttered, taking a step back. The thief's hood unzipped, and though he tried, Roxas couldn't clearly see what was beneath it. His instincts took over when the thief let out a terrifying roar, and Roxas readied his baton.

Running forward and swinging first, Roxas was shocked to see the baton phase through the thief like he was made out of thin air. He swung a few more times, but the same thing happened. The thief fell to the ground, then curled into a circle and swing its legs at Roxas. He grunted in pain as he was whipped across the chest, backstepping and slashing with his baton, which fazed through the thief's head.

"Ah, it's no use…" Roxas mumbled to himself. Then another strange thing happened.

A noise came from the baton. Since he knew that the struggle batons didn't make noises, he looked down and saw that it was glowing. He raised the baton, watching as numbers appeared around it and it started glowing white.

Then, the keyblade from his dream appeared in his hand, right where the baton had been.

"Wha- woah!" The keyblade gained a mind of its own, leveling itself to point at the thief. Roxas looked at his new weapon, then up at the thief. _"If this thing works like it did in my dream…"_ Not bothering to think about why the keyblade was there in the first place, he readied himself for round two.

The thief floated into the air and started whipping its arms around, and Roxas rolled away in response. He turned to see the thief descending, twisting his body in weird ways to face Roxas. Seeing his chance, Roxas quickly rushed in, unable to suppress the grin when he felt the solid blow land.

It wasn't much longer before the thief seemingly vanished, dropping some munny, the camera, and a bunch of photos on the ground in front of the gate. The keyblade vanished, and Roxas sighed, wondering what had just happened. Picking up the munny first (school supplies are expensive), Roxas gathered up the photos and picked up the camera, then headed back to the Usual Spot, grumbling about how his friends could've helped him out in the fight.

~The First Day~

Back at the Usual Spot, Pence asked, "Hey, how'd chasing the thief go?"

Roxas held up the camera and the photos in response, grinning widely.

"Awesome!" Hayner said. "C'mon, what are they of?"

Roxas set the camera down and hand the photos over. Hayner turned the photos right side up… then frowned. "What's this?" He asked.

Roxas looked over to see what the photo was of. "I was his first customer after he took over the shop." He explained once he recognized the picture was of him and the armour store owner. "So we took a picture together."

"It's a really nice photo!" Olette smiled brightly, then looked shocked, placing a hand over her heart.

"Hey, you just said photo!" Pence pointed out. They were all glad that word had been returned to their… to their… language.

"So Roxas, tell us about the picture thief." Hayner said. Pence and Olette looked at him expectantly.

Roxas hesitated a bit. A keyblade appearing in his hands would sound outlandish at best, but the thief disappearing into thin air would be a bit harder to explain realistically. "Not much to say. The pictures were just lying there." He said, hoping the others would believe him.

"Then how do we prove we weren't the ones who took them?" Hayner asked. Roxas laughed nervously, and Hayner rolled his eyes dismissively. He moved to a new picture, then chuckled. "It's a GIRL…"

"You look happy Roxas." Olette teased.

"Do not." He quickly countered.

"So, like, anybody else notice that all the stolen pictures are of Roxas?" Pence asked.

"Oh… that must be why everyone thought it was us." Olette muttered.

"You mean Seifer didn't go around accusing us after all?" Seifer asked. _"I really wanted to hold this one over his head…"_

"Are they really all of me?" Roxas asked.

Pence nodded. He held up several different pictures.

"See?" Hayner asked.

"Look." Olette said.

"Right? Every single one!" Pence said as he held up the last of the recovered photos. "Wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Roxas or something?"

"C'mon, get serious. Who'd want to steal a bonehead like Roxas?" Hayner asked in all seriousness.

"Oh thanks!" Roxas said sarcastically.

They all laughed with one another, but the bells rang again, signalling the start of curfew.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette said they were going to head home, but Roxas said he was going to return the pictures before he headed home too. They said their goodbyes and parted ways. Roxas gathered up the pictures and stacked them neatly on top of each other, then walked out into the alleyway.

The sun momentarily blinded him, and he raised a hand to shield his eyes. Yet another strange thing happened.

 _The world faded to black, but this time Roxas didn't lose his balance or pass out._

" _Where am I?" Roxas asked aloud._

" _Hm? Who's there?" A girl's voice could be heard, but Roxas couldn't determine its origin, only that it sounded vaguely familiar._

" _Who are you?" He asked in response. Before the girl could answer, the darkness around him shimmered, and he lost consciousness._

 _ **Restoration at 12%**_

In the white room of the mansion, Namine looked down at the sketchbook she kept hidden in plain sight by pretending it hadn't been used yet.

On the first page was a picture of Roxas in the sandlot, talking a girl in a hooded cloak.


	2. The Second Day

A/N

So this website decided not to keep the formatting I originally had and reduced the multiple dashes I had used for the words Xion and Photo (i.e. the word Xion was replaced with four dashes), so there was just one dash in a lot of places. I feel like that might have been confusing/annoying, so I went back and replaced the dash with asterisks instead, and luckily the formatting kept.

Anyways, thanks to all the people who faved, followed, and reviewed in spite of that. I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

~Peaceful Sleep~

 _After a hearty breakfast in the kitchen, Roxas headed up to the Grey Room to get his mission for the day. He yawned loudly, rubbing at one eye as he walked through the doors to see that Xaldin and **** were already there ahead of him. With a small smile he said, "Morning, ****."_

 _She turned to look at him, but didn't say anything. Roxas's brow furrowed. She had talked to him a little bit yesterday, so why was she being quiet now? "Um… something the matter?" He asked._

" _Good… morning, Roxas."_

 _Her voice was quiet, so much so that if there was any other noise in the room he might have had to ask her to repeat herself. But he found himself smiling nonetheless at her greeting, getting ready to respond when she looked behind him. He turned to see Saix walking up to the both of him, his facial expression and body language giving away the fact that he was more tense than usual._

" _Both of you, finish your preparations ASAP. A giant heartless has surfaced and must be exterminated to day." He brushed past them to give an order to Xaldin, and the setting of the dream changed._

 _They were now in Twilight Town, in the back alley near the Usual Spot. Roxas took in a deep breath and sighed, not exactly looking forward to fighting a giant heartless first thing in the morning. He tried to look on the positive side; after he beat the thing, he could have the rest of the day off to relax. Then the negative came back; without Axel, there was no one he could really talk to._

" _Roxas."_

 _As if on cue, **** spoke up and snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned around to face her, tilting his head to silently ask what she needed._

 _She reached up and pulled her hood off, revealing jet black hair and deep blue eyes which stood out against her ivory skin. Her lips were a soft shade of pink, the corners of which were pulled up into a gentle smile._

" _Good luck today." She said, her smile turning into a playful grin as she placed a hand on her hip._

 _Roxas forgot how to breathe, due in no small part to the light, airy feeling that had rooted itself in his chest. His eyes flicked between hers, and she tilted her head slightly, her hair lightly swaying about as she did so. His brain finally turned back on after her smile fell and she straightened up, and he quickly said, "Th-thanks.", wondering when he'd developed a stutter. "You too, ****." He gave her a smile of his own._

 _She nodded, readying her fire magic as he summoned the Keyblade, and they headed down the alleyway in search of the giant Heartless they'd been sent here to defeat._

 _The dream changed again._

 _They were standing in the Station Plaza, a little winded from fighting the giant Heartless, but free of injury._

" _You did great." Roxas said to his partner, still in awe that she'd picked up the Keyblade from him and dealt the final blow. Just when he thought he was done for, his partner had come to the rescue. "In fact, you deserve a little something extra."_

" _Something extra?" She asked._

 _Roxas turned to her and nodded. "Yeah, the icing on the cake. C'mon, there's this place…"_

 _Just a few minutes later, the two were on top of the clock tower, overlooking Twilight Town. "Heeeere you go." Roxas said, handing her an ice cream bar he'd purchased. "Sea salt ice cream." He said when she looked at it like were a Heartless. She turned to him with a raised brow. "Well? Go on, try it." He said in an amused tone._

 _While she ate, Roxas started talking about Axel and his first few days with the Organization, and how he'd discovered both the clock tower and the ice cream. When he stopped to take a bite out of his ice cream, she said, "You guys must be close."_

 _Roxas nodded. "Axel's my first friend."_

 _There was a moment of silence, but it was broken when she suddenly turned to him and asked, "Roxas, do you think I could be a friend?"_

 _Roxas chuckled lightly. "When Axel gets back, let's ask him. Then all three of us can have ice cream together."_

" _Okay!" Xion turned to him and smiled, and Roxas felt heat rising to his face._

 _The dream changed once more, and Roxas found himself in his room. He sat up, blinking away his exhaustion. 'I wonder what today's mission is…" He thought to himself. Yesterday's events came back to him, and he felt that light, floaty feeling in his chest again. 'I hope it's with ****..." He admitted to himself._

 _As he got out of bed, he wondered what it would be like to have another Keyblade wielder in the Organization…._

… but the sound of bells ringing out across the town woke him up. "What was that?..." He mumbled, looking down at his hand as though expecting the weapon to be there.

As he got ready and left his home to go meet up with his friends, Roxas' mind was drawn back to yesterday.

Another dream about the girl. He still couldn't remember her name. A part of him was saying, _"It's just a dream, no big deal!"_ , but another part of him was saying, _"These dreams are so vivid that they don't feel like dreams at all… more like memories. But I've lived in Twilight Town my whole life."_

Talking to his friends, which was nothing new. Yet another fight with Seifer. The picture thief revealing himself, and Roxas chasing him down through the forest.

And of course, the fight in front of the Old Mansion, where he'd summoned the Keyblade.

" _...The Keyblade is in my dreams, too… But it's real, I know I had it yesterday. There was no way I could've gotten the pictures back if I hadn't used it to fight the thief."_ Roxas thought to himself. He yawned out loud as he passed through the Sandlot and into the Back Alley.

"A Keyblade…" He stopped before going to the Usual Spot. _"My Struggle baton… it changed, didn't it?"_ He asked himself. _"Yeah, I'm sure it did! I had to pay a fine to replace it since I lost it!"_ Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a branch that was on the ground. _"I wonder if…"_ After quickly scanning the alleyway to make sure no one was looking, he grabbed the stick and gave it a few quick swings.

When nothing happened, his ears burned when he realized how foolish he must've looked. "What was that about?" He mumbled. _"Just couldn't resist, could I?"_ He started walking to the Usual Spot, throwing the stick behind him.

"Mmf."

"Oh!" Roxas turned around quickly when he heard someone grunt, knowing that the stick must've hit someone coming up from the Sandlot. "Sorry… about that…"

He trailed off when he saw what the person was wearing. The _exact same_ coat from his dreams. Pitch black, with a zipper that went down to the knee, with a couple of strings to close the hood off from the elements.

Dumbfounded, Roxas watched as the person walked off to the Sandlot without a word. When they disappeared, Roxas shook his head and pinched himself to make sure he was really awake, then ran down to the Sandlot. He wasn't sure what he was going to ask them, but if this was real and wasn't a dream…

"Oof!"

"Ow!"

Someone had turned the corner and gotten into Roxas's path, and the two of them fell to the ground with a thud. Roxas looked up, but there was no one else in the Sandlot. Just him and- "Oh, sorry Olette!" He apologized, standing and offering her a hand.

"What're you in such a hurry for?" She asked, looking at him slightly annoyed.

"Oh, uh… nothing!" He gave an awkward chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you alright?"

"Yep, not a scratch. C'mon, Hayner and Pence are waiting for us." She started back up the stairs Roxas had just come down.

Roxas took one last glance around the Sandlot, but ultimately followed after Olette when he couldn't see the stranger in black.

~The 2nd Day~

"We all go to the beach! And _why_ do we go to the beach? Because we haven't gone once this entire vacation!"

Roxas watched as Hayner did almost the exact same thing from yesterday, wondering why Pence was so philosophical. If Pence hadn't brought up the question of how long they'd be friends, they likely wouldn't be listening to Hayner ranting right now.

"Blue seas, blue skies. Let's get on the train and go!" Hayner turned around grinning from ear to ear. But when he was met with a bunch of frowns, he quirked a brow and asked, "No? Aw, c'mon!"

"Maybe you forgot, but we're broke." Roxas stated bluntly. They really only had enough for sea-salt ice cream most days, and even then that wasn't always the case.

"Maybe you forgot I'm smart!" Hayner said as he turned and ran out of the Usual Spot. "To Market Street!" He exclaimed as everyone joined him in the alley. Roxas fell in behind Pence, and a moment later they had emerged from the alleyway. "Woah, check it out!"

"What is it?" Pence asked.

The sign for the Struggle tournament had been put up a ways away from the job notice board, the latter of which had gone completely unnoticed by Hayner. "Just two days to go." He turned to Roxas and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You and I have to make the finals. That way, no matter who wins, the four of us split the prize!"

"Okay, you're on!" Roxas agreed. Munny, a trophy, bragging rights… who wouldn't want to compete in the Struggle Tournament for a chance at fame and fortune?

"You two are gonna clean up!" Pence told them.

"Go get em!" Olette chimed in with some support as well.

"It's a promise." Hayner said. "Now, let's get down to business. One ticket to the beach is 900 munny. How much for four of us?"

"3600." Olette said.

"And… Mm, about 300 each to spend there. What's that for all of us?" Hayner asked.

"1200 munny. So, a total of 4800 munny." Olette added up.

"To spend on what?" Roxas asked. They all had swimming outfits, so what else did they need?

"Pretzels, of course!" Hayner gave Roxas the 'are you daft' look. "What else is there?"

In the vein of food, Roxas said, "Well, there's always watermelon."

"Too pricey. They're like, 2000 munny apiece." Hayner quickly said.

"Pretzels it is."

"So, where were we?" Hayner asked, turning to Olette.

She said, "We need 4800 munny altogether. But all we have is…" She trailed off, and everyone announced what they had.

"I've got 800."

"650."

"150. Sorry." Roxas was starting to feel a little annoyed that he'd had to replace the struggle baton he lost yesterday. Like it was his fault the thing dematerialized out of existence.

"That's 1600 munny, we only need another 3200." Hayner said. "We have till the train leaves to earn 800 munny each. Meet at the station with cash in hand!"

He ran off to the Station Plaza, and Pence asked no one in particular, "Didn't he say he had it covered?"

"Whatever, those pretzels are sounding pretty good." Roxas shrugged, completely used to this sort of thing.

The three walked over to the job notice board and started looking for things they could do.

"Mail delivery… sounds like an easy job." Olette said, taking the piece of paper of the tack and examining it. "Applicants need to be fast and know their way around town… munny is rewarded based on speed and number of letters delivered."

"I'm out." Pence said immediately, causing Roxas to laugh.

"How about this?" Roxas pointed to another piece of paper. _"Looking for people to help me move. Must be able to lift and carry heavy objects and items. Reward is 2000 munny._ " Roxas read aloud. "We could do that. When we set up the usual spot, we moved all the junk out and put the sofa in."

"Yeah, while Hayner yelled at us to work harder." Pence said, flicking his wrist as though he were holding a whip.

"Alright. Let's meet at the Station Plaza when were finished." Olette walked off with a wave.

Roxas took the piece of paper off the notice board, and he and Pence started heading to the address listed on the back. Most of the walk there was filled with a comfortable silence as a warm breeze occasionally washed over them. Pence walked with his hands clasped behind his head as he hummed an upbeat tune. When Roxas let out a tired yawn, Pence turned to him asked, "Didn't get much sleep?"

"I got plenty of sleep, I just had… vivid dreams." He mumbled in response. "They feel… I dunno, connected or something."

"What are they about?" Pence inquired.

"Hmm…" Roxas looked towards the ground, debating how much he should tell Pence. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, but he wasn't sure himself what to make of the dreams. "Well, I'm with this group of people. And… they make me travel around collecting stuff. But I don't know why I'm collecting these things, or who these people are, or why I work for them." He informed Pence. "There's this girl, too. I feel like I should know who she is, but I can't quite remember. It feels like… like something's missing." He scratched the back of his head. "It's weird. My dreams have never been this vivid before."

"Vivid dreams about girls would make me tired all day, too." Pence said with a grin.

"Oh, shut up!" Roxas and he both laughed, but they arrived at their destination, and they dropped the conversation.

~Peaceful Sleep~

" _How did you afford all this stuff?!" Roxas grumbled as he carried the dozens of shopping bags up the stairs to ****'s room._

" _I got a huge bonus on the last mission since Demyx slept in, so I got his share of the reward Then I sold it most of it to the moogle." **** said. "Don't worry Roxas, I believe in you! We're almost there."_

" _Believe harder! My legs are about to give out!" The finally stopped in front of her door, and she unlocked it and held it open for him. With a relieved sigh, he set everything on the floor of her bedroom. "Next time you're carrying some of it."_

"Good job, Roxas!" Pence clapped his hands together a few times.

"I can't believe you made me carry everything!" Roxas groaned as he dropped to the ground.

"Ah, it's fine. The job got done, and we got all the munny we need!" Pence said as their employer handed them the 2000 munny. "C'mon, let's meet the others. I bet Olette already finished her job."

They did indeed find Olette and Hayner talking in front of the Clock Tower when they made their way up. "Alright, we're all here now. What've we got?" Hayner asked.

"Just… this!" Pence said triumphantly as he held up the munny Roxas had earned.

"Wow, good job Pence!" Olette said as she patted his shoulder.

"Yeah, who knew you had it in you?" Hayner asked with a whistle.

"..." Roxas glared daggers at Pence, which went unnoticed by the rest of the group.

"Nice work everyone. Added to what we started with, we know have… ta-da! 5000 munny!" Olette said after she took everyone's earnings and put them in a small, handmade bag. "C'mon, let's get tickets." She handed the bag to Roxas, and she and Pence started to the glass doors ahead of them.

"We can't be together forever. So we better make the time we do have something to remember."

Roxas raised a brow before turning to Hayner and asking a very dignified, "Huh?"

He got a light punch and "Gotcha!" from Hayner in response.

Roxas rolled his eyes, putting the munny pouch in his pocket and starting after Hayner. Just as he had closed half the distance between them, something flew at him and knocked him to the ground. He winced, holding a hand to his jaw where he'd been struck as he got to his knees. He looked up, expecting to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette giving him worried looks, but all he saw was a pair of black boots and shiny black leather. Adrenaline shot through him as he was roughly pulled to his feet by the man in the black coat from earlier.

"Can you feel Sora?"

"What?" Roxas blinked. _"Who's Sora? I feel like I've heard that name before."_

"Roxas, three minutes!"

Roxas turned to look up at the stairs where Hayner had called out to him, before turning back to the man who'd picked him up. His eyes widened when he saw that he was completely gone. Not a few feet away, not ten feet away, not even in sight.

"Roxas!" Hayner called out again with an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah, coming!" Once inside, Hayner placed the ticket order and turned around, asking for the money. Roxas reached into his pocket… then his left, then his back, then patted his chest. His eyes widened in shock. "No!" He muttered. _"I had it just a moment ago!"_ He turned around and started heading to the doors to the Station Plaza. "He took it!"

"Where are you going?" Olette called out.

"Remember when I fell? I had the money before that. That guy took it!" He exclaimed.

Hayner stepped forward with a confused look on his face. "Guy? What are you talking about? There was no guy."

The bells rang out as the trains departed the station. "Oh boy…" Pence mumbled dejectedly.

Everyone sighed, then turned to leave. "C'mon, let's get some ice cream." Hayner said as he walked past Roxas. They got four bars and returned to the Clock Tower, where a sullen silence settled over them. Roxas's gaze was unfocused as he stared out over the town, his ice cream barely being held on as it dripped to the ground far below.

"It's melting." Olette pointed out to him.

He blinked, then looked at the others. "Sorry." He said.

"Cheer up already." Hayner said as he took another large bite out of his ice cream bar.

While the others pointed out how strange the last hour had been, Roxas thought back to what he'd been asked by the man in the black coat.

Being up on top of the Clock Tower, eating ice cream with his friends, wondering about a person named Sora, he suddenly felt fearful and sad, and quickly excused himself and headed home.

 _ **Restoration at 28%**_

Diz sat at the computer screen, looking between the monitors as Riku sat behind him. "Hm. It's strange. Roxas seems to be remembering his time in the Organization." Diz muttered as he replayed the conversation between Roxas and Pence.

"Namine didn't remove Roxas's old memories. She gave him new ones and suppressed his old ones." Riku said. "If she had completely erased his old personality, it would be much more difficult for him to give his power back to Sora."

Diz nodded. "But still… I wonder if Namine has seen him before. Look here," Diz played the last part of Roxas's conversation, "He mentions a girl he once knew. What do you think that means?"

"It may be Kairi. Or Namine herself, since she's the one piecing Sora's memories together." Riku said. "Or what about that girl who was sent to Castle Oblivion? The blonde one, with the lightning knives?"

"Yes, it could be Larxene he's referring to. Roxas doesn't seem to remember everything, so it is a possibility." Diz said. He turned around, looking at the stolen bag in Riku's hand. "Delete that. Objects from that town must be kept out of the real world."

~Peaceful Sleep~

A/N

Sorry if this chapter is slow or weak, the 2nd is by far the dryest of the tutorial levels.

Anyways, thanks for reading!


	3. The Third Day

A/N

Sorry I didn't update this for a couple of years, what really knocked the wind out of me sails was the fact that I had to sit there and watch the cutscenes over and over again from the KH2 tutorial, then go back and find rokushi moments from Days to put in alongside splicing original story content organically into both games. So yeah. But KH3 didn't give me all the rokushi content I wanted, so I'm coming back to this. I added some small stuff to the last two chapters and then fixed some mistakes I saw when I re-read them.

Onwards!

~The Third Day~

" _Got it!"_

 _Roxas turned to face ****. "Got what?" He asked, still a little concerned about **** considering she'd almost fallen off the clock tower a moment ago._

" _On our next day off, let's all go to the beach, huh?" **** said, turning to them with a smile._

" _The beach? Where did that idea come from?" **** asked._

" _We should go someplace different for a change." Was all **** said._

 _There was nothing wrong with the clock tower in Roxas's opinion, but he did realize, "You're talking about a vacation with friends."_

" _Exactly." **** nodded in agreement._

" _I'll join you… if I can."_

 _Roxas turned to look back at ****. She was looking down at the ground. "What are you talking about, ****?" She looked up at him, and Roxas smiled._

" _It'll be a blast, trust me!" **** promised._

 _**** pursed her lips together, letting out a small, "Hmph." as she considered the offer. "Yes all right, lets go!"_

 _Everything went dark, but for some reason he thought he could see a figure in a black cloak just ahead of him. "Who are you?" He called out to the person. They didn't turn around._

When he woke up a moment later, he got the strangest feeling he wasn't alone in his room. Shaking the feeling off, Roxas sighed as he got up and walked to the shower. "We were all supposed to the go beach together…" He muttered to himself as the hot water poured over him. "I wonder if I made it with them, or if I lost the munny just like yesterday…" He shut the water off after a little while, then grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and headed to the Usual Spot to meet his friends. But the hangout was empty, and Roxas found a note from Hayner telling him to meet at the station.

Sighing and leaving the Usual Spot, Roxas was about to make his way to the station when he noticed some familiar figures to his right. He turned and saw Olette and Pence, and then called out to them. "Morning." Olette called back, taking a step forward and then… stopping. Roxas blinked, unsure what he was looking at. He ran forward to do… well he didn't know what he would do, but it didn't matter because a blonde girl suddenly blinked into existence in front of him.

"Hello Roxas." She greeted.

"Uh, hi…" He said in confusion. The girl idly looked around, so he asked, "And you are?"

She raised a hand to silence him. "I wanted to meet you, at least once."

Roxas raised a brow. "Me?"

"Yes, you." She nodded, turning around and leaving to go down Market Street. Apparently meeting him was _all_ she wanted to do.

Before his brain could catch up with him, Pence and Olette turned back on (or unfroze, because Roxas wasn't sure what had happened in the first place) and walked up to him, seemingly unaware of what had just happened. "Olette dragged me along to go shopping." Pence said, not sound too pleased about the ordeal.

"Hey, you wanna come with us?" She invited him.

But Roxas's mind was on other things. "Um, uhh, wait… did you just see that…" He mumbled, his brain still trying to catch up with the situation. He walked past them, hoping to see where that girl had gone.

"He's stalling." Pence pointed out.

"Very well then. We'll see you later, okay Roxas?" Olette asked.

"Y-yeah…" Roxas said as he turned around, watching them leave as they gave a farewell wave. He turned back around, but the girl in white was still gone. "Did she go to that haunted mansion?" He asked no one, deciding to head there because out of everywhere in Twilight Town, where would time freezing teleporting girls choose to hang out? Certainly not the sandlot. Roxas made his way through the streets, and every now and then he got a glimpse of the girl in the distance. But everytime he caught up to her, she would vanish again. But it definitely felt like she was leading him to the mansion, because he saw her disappear through the hole in the wall in the Tram Common.

She had disappeared again, and Roxas started making his way through the forest when the shadows from the trees suddenly started shifting, and from them several figures in white jumpsuits appeared. Roxas watched as one zig-zagged through the air, and when it grabbed his wrist and started tugging on him, he fought back shouting, "Lemme go!" and turning to run back into town when he was free. He would realize later that the thing hadn't been rough when it had grabbed him, it had actually been rather gentle. But as he ran into the only thing on his mind was that it wasn't his brightest idea to chase after a mysterious girl leading him into the woods.

He ran into the sandlot, the figures hot on his tail. "Hey, chicken wuss!" Roxas stopped and saw that Seifer and his goons were all looking at him, and it was the first time he'd ever been thankful to see the jerks.

"Who's that?" Fuu called out, and he turned to see that the figures hadn't given up their pursuit of him yet. But now he had the numbers advantage; it was five on three and they all had experience in street brawls.

"I dunno, but they've already crossed the line!" Seifer said, and his goons readied themselves. "Find a weapon."

Roxas grabbed a nearby struggle baton and stared down one of his pursuers. It was identical in appearance and movement to the thief that he'd fought two days ago and so he had no problem avoiding its attacks or outmaneuvering it. The problem was that like two days ago, his baton was phasing right through it. Grunting in frustration when his weapon went right the things head, he jumped back and saw that Seifer and his crew had been surrounded. His momentary lack of focus gave his enemy an opening and his baton was knocked from his hand.

"Roxas! Use the Keyblade!"

He then made sure that it definitely wasn't in his hand, because he was not keen on losing what little munny he had left to replace another one. He looked around for whoever had called out to him, making the same mistake as before and taking his eye off his opponent. It flew at him, and he raised his hands to protect himself when everything went white.

~Peaceful Sleep~

" _Roxas, if you jump at the right time you can avoid the Dusk's leg swipes!"_

 _He looked up to see **** in the stands, observing him as he practiced against a few of the Dusks. "I know that!" He shouted back at her, only for something to smack him in the back. He stumbled forward, and turned around to see that the Dusk had swiped at his back when he'd let his guard down, and now appeared to be laughing at him._

" _Eyes on your opponent!" **** shouted with a laugh._

" _Shut up!"_

~Peaceful Sleep~

Roxas lowered his hands as the vision ended, adrenaline pumping through him when he saw that he'd disappeared from Twilight Town. Darkness extended in all directions, and he was on a circular platform of some kind. Three objects appeared in front of him, a sword, a shield, and a staff. He blinked, unsure what was happening. He looked around and saw the things from the Sandlot were standing (floating?) off the platform. Dusks, they were called. At least that's what the girl had called them. They appeared to be watching him. He took a moment to catch his breath, placing his hands on his knees as he tried to calm himself down.

As he looked at the ground, he saw that he was on some kind of stained glass, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that HE was on the stained glass. There was a Keyblade in his hand, and his eyes were closed. On the stained glass were the portraits of two people; the girl from his dreams and visions, and a man with spiky red hair and marks under his eyes. He'd also been in his dreams and visions, but to a much lesser extent. Roxas felt like their names were just on the tip of his tongue, but no matter what he could say them.

He straightened up, looking around at the Dusks to see they hadn't moved. He walked forward and grabbed the sword out of the air, watching as it vanished and then the Keyblade appeared in its place. The Dusks stepped onto the platform, and Roxas readied himself for a fight. It didn't take very long, now that he was able to actually hit them. The Keyblade vanished again, and opposite him on the platform he saw that a door had appeared.

" _Be careful. Beyond that door lies a completely different world. But don't be afraid. Don't stop walking…"_

A voice called out to him as he looked at it, and he couldn't determine if it was male or female, young or old, if it was quiet or loud. So he walked forward, stepping through the door and appearing in a new area, with two platforms connect by a bridge. Dusks got in his way as he walked ahead, and he took care of them swiftly. Another stood at the end of the path, and he walked through it again. This time he reappeared on a singular platform, with no bridges leading anywhere and no other platforms in sight. He looked around, when suddenly he felt a presence behind him. He turned around, and for only a split second he saw _her_ … The girl with black hair, at the other end of the platform.

But she vanished the moment she would've been out of his peripheral vision and in his direct line of sight, and something else, something big came over the side of the platform. He summoned the Keyblade and readied himself, battling the creature for what felt like an hour as it attacked him. But he finally managed to overcome it, only for the thing to explode into shadows. Roxas struggled against them, but it felt like swimming in syrup while wearing a suit filled with bricks.

A hand gently grabbed his wrist, and a bright light shined through the shadows. He closed his eyes as it overwhelmed him. His feet hit solid ground and the hand let go of him, and he slowly opened his eyes. A pure white room had replaced the constant shadows of wherever he had been previously. But most noticeable of all was the girl in white from earlier. He opened his mouth to speak, to ask what had just happened, but she raised a finger to her lips.

"My name is Namine." She told him. "Roxas, do you remember your true name?" She asked.

Roxas's brow knitted together, unsure of what she meant. His name was and always had been Roxas, so…. But before he could give any kind of answer, a man in a black cloak appeared and pulled Namine to her feet. "Say no more, Namine." He commanded.

"But if no one tells him, Roxas will-"

"It's best he doesn't know the truth." The man said, cutting her off. His grip on her arm loosened, and Namine lowered it back to her side.

In a moment of pure mundanity, Roxas called out in anger, "Hey, you're that pickpocket!" Completely forgetting what was going on and what he'd just been through. He'd worked hard carrying all that stuff so Pence could get all the credit, and he wasn't just about to stand by and let the thief get away with his reward munny.

The man raised his hand, and Roxas felt the air shift behind him. He turned to see that a dark pool of shadow had appeared, and he took a few apprehensive steps back. Not having learned his lesson about keeping his eyes on his opponents, Roxas let out a surprised gasp when the man came up behind him and roughly shoved him through the portal.

~Peaceful Sleep~

" _That wasn't half bad." **** compliment him as he dismissed the Dusks from the training room. "Although you could work on not being distracted so easily."_

" _Easy for you to say." Roxas huffed. "Maybe you shouldn't be so distracting."_

 _**** quickened her pace to get in front of Roxas. "Do you really think I'm distracting?" She asked, a teasing smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye._

 _Roxas felt the heat rise to her face, not for the first time wondering why she could be so cute at the most random of times. "Not really." He tried to play it off, hoping she didn't notice._

" _Well, that's good. Saix is going to give us a mission together tomorrow. He told me to tell you that we're hunting some giant heartless that's appeared in Halloween Town." She told him. "So you'd better be prepared."_

" _Is that why you were here?" Roxas asked, and **** nodded._

" _Yep. Now go hit the showers, you stink."_

" _I do not!"_

~Peaceful Sleep~

Roxas groaned as he woke up. He could hear Rai talking about poses and Seifer saying something back, then looked up to see that Seifer was posing over _him._ "What's that for!?" Roxas raised his voice.

"Keepsake." Fuu said.

"Those freaks in the white jumpsuits are gone, y'know?" Rai told him.

"Cakewalk." Fuu said, giving Vivi a high five.

"Outsiders, pfft. If they don't wise up to the rules around here, I might to take disciplinary measures." Seifer shook his head.

"Oh yeah! Seifer's always looking after the town, y'know?"

Fuu looked to her left, as did the rest of the group and Roxas followed suit. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were all standing at one of the far entrances to the sandlot. Even from this distance, he could see Hayner scoff at him before he turned and left. Pence and Olette followed after him, and Roxas called out to them, "Wait up!"

"Hey, no chickening out of the tournament tomorrow!" Seifer shouted to him as he left, and Roxas could hear his friends snickering as he started down the back alleys, assuming his friends had probably gone to the Usual Spot.

He was right; all three of his friends were there, sea-salt ice cream in hand.

"So… you hung out with Seifer's gang today?" Pence asked as Roxas walked in.

"N-no, it's not like that…" Roxas suddenly realized why Hayner and the others had run off. Another realization struck him as an awkward silence settled over them. "Oh yeah! How was the beach? Wasn't that today?"

"We didn't go." Olette told him. "It wouldn't be the same without you, right?"

"...Sorry." He mumbled. _"I probably didn't make it with them, either…"_ He looked up, and saw that Hayner still wasn't looking at him. "Hey… how 'bout we go tomorrow? We could get those pretzels and-"

"I promised I'd be somewhere." Hayner said, cutting him off.

"Ohh…" Roxas looked down, then his head snapped back up as he remembered that the promise was to Roxas about the Struggle tournament. "Oh!"

"I'm outta here." Hayner said as he walked off, leaving Roxas, Pence, and Olette in silence.

 _ **Restoration at 48%**_

"Was that Namine made of data?" Riku asked.

"No! Namine hijacked the data herself! Look what she's done now…" DiZ shook his head. "She's totally beyond my control!" He punched one of the keyboards to his side, angry at the jeopardization of his work due to the girls actions.

"Calm down." Riku told him.

"It doesn't matter. As long as Namine accomplishes her goal, we needn't worry about what befalls Roxas." Diz said.


End file.
